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January 2017

January 17, 2017

We learn today UK prime minister Theresa May’s cunning plan to Hokey Cokey the country's way out of Europe. I’m reliably informed it will be based around a Clean Brexit as opposed to the Hard, Soft or Flaccid Brexits the markets so fear. The UK will exit the Single Market, Customs Union and European Justice… and it will be fascinating to see how pragmatically Europe responds and figures out how to deal with the potential loss of 20%-plus plus of its markets and a major source of funding. Don’t underestimate the potential importance of how the rest of the planet

January 14, 2017

The Lauberhorn Race organising committee president has called a media meeting for 13.30h today. I wonder if the purpose of that might be to announce that the weekend is ending prematurely. Dismantling of race-specific structures in the town, such as the inflatable arch outside the Co-op, has already started, and it looks from the webcam as if dismantling is under way in the finish arena.

Just heard that today's Lauberhorn Downhill Race has been cancelled. Can't say I'm surprised as, irony of ironies, there is too much snow. It has been snowing heavily for the past 24 hours and more and visibility on the piste must be poor.

Wonder what that means for the local economy. Will people still come up and have acres-ski fun? Or will they shrug their shoulders and go home? We shall see.

January 12, 2017

I think I might have just seen the first casualty of the Lauberhorn World Cup skiing weekend, a chap being supported into the Silberhorn Hotel up in town by two policemen. At first I thought he must have been injured, then I thought he looks drunk, very drunk.

Then I spotted the word 'Zeitung' on the back of his jacket. Looks like he's a journalist, so he's drunk. At a quarter past three in the afternoon! Bringing the industry into disrepute.

I have to say that the two policemen were very calm and good-humoured about the whole thing. But there is a long way to go. Final preparations are not yet complete though the mobile pizza place and roasted cheese place are open for business.

responsAbility Investments AG, an asset manager specialising in development investments, reports from Zurich that it has appointed Roland Pfeuti as head of investment solutions & sales and as a member of its executive management team.

Preceded by lower-than-expected inflation earlier in the day, the decision by the Brazilian central bank to cut interest rates by 75 basis points (bps) instead of the 50 bps forecast was a surprise that had been a while in the making.

Fund administration company MainstreamBPO Limited has opened an office in the Cayman Islands after receiving approval for a Full Mutual Fund Administrators Licence from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA).

The Central Securities Depository of Poland (KDPW), which has been issuing Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) codes since 2013, says it has now received the accreditation of the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), the body responsible for ensuring the operational integrity of the Global LEI System.

CACEIS is this morning heralding what it describes as its new collaborative platform TEEPI (Tailored Electronic Exchange Platform for Investors), aimed at making the lives of institutional investors and asset management companies that bit easier.

The Association of Investment Companies is urging the UK government to secure consumer, competitive and regulatory benefits following the country's proposed withdrawal from the European Union by taking a layered approach to funds regulation.

Good luck to all those skiers taking part in this year's Lauberhorn World Cup ski races which Wengen hosts this coming weekend. First training starts today at 10.15am, reversing an earlier decision to give the guys a day off until Wednesday.

Those who have never seen Wengen over a Lauberhorn weekend would be astonished at the transformation that takes place as more than 60,000 people pour in by train, cable car and helicopter (for those who can't bear the thought of a four-hour wait at Lauterbrunnen train station and have deep enough pockets to treat a helicopter as a taxi).

My suggested route would be to take the train to Grindelwald, then the cable car from Grund to Mannlichen and cable car from Mannlichen to Wengen.

January 09, 2017

Markets around the globe are not likely to descend into meltdown this year, with prospects for economic growth actually looking brighter than they have for some time, Kames Capital’s Stephen Jones has said.